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Tony Pearson is a Master Inventor and Senior IT Architect for the IBM Storage product line at the
IBM Executive Briefing Center in Tucson Arizona, and featured contributor
to IBM's developerWorks. In 2016, Tony celebrates his 30th year anniversary with IBM Storage. He is
author of the Inside System Storage series of books. This blog is for the open exchange of ideas relating to storage and storage networking hardware, software and services.
(Short URL for this blog: ibm.co/Pearson )

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People who were logged in were represented in silhouette form. When someone walked into the booth, our army of "booth reps" were able to chat with them and answer their questions. They could also peruse the various online materials we made available about each product.

Here are some of my observations:

A lot of questions were related to IBM's support for VMware. Although VMware is now currently owned by EMC, pending a spin-off IPO, IBM is its biggest reseller, given IBM's vast experience in server virtualization. Ironically, IBM's SAN Volume Controller supports VMware better than EMC's own storage virtualization product, Invista.

People also familiar with Second Life thought this 2-D "silhouette" version eliminated the need to configure and dress up your avatar as is required in participating in Second Life events. However, being only ableto chat, send e-mail and show web pages seemed less immersive than what Second Life can offer.

This event generated over 60 leads. We will pass on the contact information to the appropriate sales team.

Based on our success with Second Life launch event last week, see my previous blog posts hereandhere, people have asked me what tools and software we used. The ones that were the most useful were:

GIMP - available at gimp.org - is an open-source alternative to Adobe PhotoShop or Corel PaintShopPro, and is useful for editing photos and graphics, such as the surfaces of 3-D objects and clothing.

Avimator - available at avimator.com - for the gestures to animate your avatar. This allowed us to hold microphones up to our mouth to speak, hold a pointing stick to focus attention on specific things, or to drink coffee afterwards.

FRAPS - available at fraps.com - to capture video and screen shots. The free version is limited, so our designated "camera crew" purchased the full-price version, and worked very well.

"Information is moving—you know, nightly news is one way, of course, but it's also moving through the blogosphere and through the Internets."--- George W. Bush

As multinational companies transition to becomeglobally integrated enterprises, information is going to move across nationalboundaries. Laws that pertain to how data is stored and access need to be addressed.

Jon W Toigo over at DrunkenData.com discusses an Interesting proposal on Google Censorship. The New York Sun reports that NYC comptroller, Williams Thompson Jr. istargeting both Google and Yahoo over theirpolicies of abiding the local laws in each country they do business in.The proposal includes asking Google to fight local laws, publicize when Google complies withlocal laws, and publicize when local governments ask Google to comply with their laws. While Toigo focuses on Google, this issue applies to Yahoo, Microsoft, and many other companies that do business in multiple countries.

I admire when government officials use diplomacy to influence the policy of other governments, andwhen individuals act to influence the policies of those who govern them, but Thompson isdoing neither.In this matter, Thompson is trying to influence thepolicies of another government outside his jurisdiction, as a manager of investments in companies that do business there.Investors have two choices when trying to influence how companies do business.

Stop investing in those companies

Purchase shares, and vote your portion of the shares.

It appears Thompson is exercising the latter, proposing that this issue be brought to shareholder vote via proxy.There can only be two results from such a vote, either:

Shareholders vote for it, and Google changes the way it does business in this and other countries, possibly stops doing business in countries that don't appreciate hegemony.

Shareholders vote against it, and Google continues to do a great balancing act, complying with laws and their owncorporate culture

Did we forget that we have censorship in the USA as well? Would Thompson's proposalsapply to the rules and regs that our own government requires?

IBM does business in most, not all, countries on this planet. In the countries we don't do business in, we havegood reason not to. For the countries we do, we comply with all the laws that apply in each case.When I travel to these countries, including some of the countries specifically targeted by this proposal, I must abide by their laws. No exceptions.

The world is shrinking, and technologies now allow companies to become globally integrated. Before writing"The World Is Flat", Thomas Friedman wrote a book titled The Lexus and TheOlive Tree, which covers all the various issues related to conflicts between global companies and the countriesand cultures they do business in.

This reminds me of the wisdom of the Prime Directiveintroduced in the late 1960s on the popular TV show "Star Trek". The concept was simple, honor the sovereigntyof other cultures, on other worlds, and play by their rules when you are on their planet.I say "wisdom" in that it took me years to truly appreciate this idea.Initially, I considered this just a plot device to introduce conflict each time the captain and crew of thestarship "Enterprise" visits a new location, and discovers a culture different than their own. But over the years, as I have traveled to many countries, I began to see and understandthe wisdom of the "Prime Directive", and it applies as much now, in real life, as it did back then in the futuristic 1960s TV show.

Who are we to say that our way of doing things is the one and only way to do them?

Well, I'm going to take a two week break from blogging. Not because my clarification of storage terminology got me Marc Farley's finger wagging of shame.

No, I'm going on vacation.I'll be going to a third-world country, possibly outside the reaches of cell phones, e-mail and the internet, so I won't be blogging until I get back later this month. Since Clark Hodge has discovered a pattern that I am suspiciously close to massive power failures, I think it best not to tell people exactly where I am going.

So, until I get back, I leave you with a nice piece from Kirby at Storage Sanity who has discovered that IBMers are very nice.

For those who participated in Clark Hodge's "Where's Tony" contest,I was in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzogovina. There were optional side-tours to Montenegro and Slovenia, but I decided not to incur the added time and expense with those.

For those wondering where to go this Summer for vacation, I recommend Croatia. It is a beautiful country, with clean cities, good road conditions, and a calm Adriatic sea as we went from island to island.

And if you get to Mostar, don't let them talk you into jumping off the "old bridge". The water is terribly cold down there![Read More]

Yesterday, IBM announced a variety of new storage offerings. Our theme this time around was "Policies and Performance". Here's a quick recap.

N series

IBM offers new appliance and gateway models of its popular "unified storage" IBM System Storage N series disk systems.The N5300 appliance has two models. A10 for the single-controller, and A20 for the dual-controller model. The N5600 gateway also has two models. G10 for the single-controller, and G20 for the dual-controller model.A new EXN4000 disk expansion drawer is 3U high, and can hold up to 14 disks. It can support 1Gbps, 2Gpbs and 4Gpbs speeds.In addition to all this new "performance", we offer a new "policy" called the Advanced Single Instance Storage feature for the N5000 and N7000 series, which provides de-duplication at the block level. This can be particularly useful if you are using your N series for e-mail, document publishing, databases, backups or archives.

SAN Volume Controller

A technology refresh with the new 8G4 model. Like its predecessor, the 8F4, this new model has 8GB of cache per node, and is fitted with 4Gpbs SAN attachment ports. The difference is that the 8G4 is based on our successfulIBM System x3550 server.This baby screams, so I look forward to seeing the updated SPC-1 and SPC-2 performance benchmark ratings.The new SVC 4.2 software provides additional authentication policies for more granular administration support, andmulti-destination FlashCopy (one source copied to up to 16 destination copies at the same time).

DS8000 Scalability

The DS8000 series now supports having third and fourth expansion frames. This was actually already available via RPQ, but now it can be directly ordered.This means that you can now hold up to half a Petabyte in a single disk system.

The IBM System Storage DCS9550 Storage System comes in a 4U controller and 3U disk expansion drawers. It is designed for High Performance Computing (HPC) such as genome medical research, government research and rich media applications.

Our clients tell us they need performance to meet their dynamic business demands, and policies to help them manage the ever growing size of their storage infrastructure. We listened!

Well it's already Tuesday here in Australia. Many people here have asked me what my secrets are for dealing withJet Lag, as many Aussies (and Kiwis) travel across time zones for business. While Sydney is 17 hours "ahead" of Arizona right now, my body feels like it is 7 hours of time zones "behind". If you do nothing, your body will naturally adjust, about one time zone per day, which is completely unacceptable for most week-long business trips.Since I have been traveling for IBM since 1989, I have read a lot on this, and tried a lot of things, and here's what works for me.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, consult a doctor if you have any questions

Before the Trip

People are normally on a 24-hour circadian rhythm. Change this to 48-hours by alternating light-eating and heavy-eating days. Why? a 7-hour shift to a 48-hour cycle is not as bad as for a 24-hour cycle. A Light-eating day may involve a light breakfast, light lunch and either no dinner or just appetizers. A heavy-eating day involves bigger meals, and perhaps snacks between meals. Plan to have the day you step on the plane as your last light-eating day. I normally start this 5 days before the trip.

Adjust your drinking schedule.

Before noon, drink water and juice only, no caffeine, no alcohol, no shots of tequila as morning mouthwash. My drink of choice in the mornings on airplanes is spicy tomato juice, which some people call "Bloody Mary Mix" without the alcohol.

Noon to 4pm, drink caffeinated products, like coffee, tea or soft drinks. If you normally don't drink caffeine at all, here's your reason to start. It will "center" your day.

After 4pm, drink alcohol, like red wine which is good for your for the health of your heart and lungs, but no caffeine, cola-based mixed drinks or late night cappuccinos. If you normally don't drink alcohol, drink water or juice instead.

This revised drinking schedule is good advice year round, wherever you are, but you can start this 5 days before the trip also.

During the Flight

Immediately upon getting seated, adjust your watch to the destination time. This will help you determine when you should be awake or asleep on the flight. For example, I left 10pm Los Angeles, and arrived 6am into Sydney. I reset my watch to 3pm had my first meal, stayed awake to watch a few movies, slept for 6 hours, and then was awake the last two hours before landing for breakfast.

Sometimes, this time adjustment might mean sleeping through dinner or breakfast served on the plane. Survivalists indicate that people cansurvive on several weeks without food, and most American businessmen carry enough body fat to hibernate through winter, so don't feel bad skipping a meal. Some airlines provide "don't wake me up" stickers you can attach to your seat or shoulder. I also tell the people around me "If I am asleep DON'T wake me up for drinks or meals." Despite this, people will wake you up anyways, and if this happens, be pleasant, indicate again that you are not hungry, and prefer to sleep instead.

The drink schedule applies to the new time zone on the plane. Depending on when you are served, drink water, juice, caffeine, or alcohol, based on the destination time zone.

Once you arrive

Focus on being awake from 9am to 5pm in the new local time zone. You can then work to adjust your hours from there.

For at least the first three days at your new location, eat high-protein breakfasts and lunches, like eggs and meats, which will keep you more awake. The drinking schedule still applies, so no coffee or tea in the morning, but some during lunch is fine, again to "center" your day. Eat high-carbohydrate dinners, like salads, vegetables and pasta. No caffeine, have alcohol, juice or water instead.

Many say that it is best to be in bright sunlight during the day, and darkness at night, to reset your circadian rhythm. Scientists have suggested your sensor is in the popliteal region (backs of your knees) and is discussed by The Straight Dope. While I have never strapped aflashlight to my legs, I do find wearing shorts or bathing suits and being outdoors during the day, and wearing long pants and being indoors in dark conditions during the night to be helpful. If you take a nap during the day, make sure your drapes are wide open and sleep on your belly, letting the backs of your knees to get plenty of sunlight, to remind your body you are taking a "day-time" nap. If you find yourself awake at night, keep your legs covered under the bed, wear long-legged pajamas or sweat pants, use minimal lighting like a bedside night lamp, to remind your body you are "reverse napping" (being awake for a short time during a sleep period).

Exercise in the morning. I do this in Tucson, so it is routine and habit to continue at the new location. Sometimes just walking around your new surroundings can be enough to help you adjust to the new time zone, and is a good excuse for wearing shorts or your bathing suit.

About 3-5 days before returning, go back to the "Before the Trip" process and start alternating meals again. Follow the process and act as if returning home is a new trip to deal with jet lag in the reverse direction.

Many often associate CAS with EMC's Centera offering, but with IBM's comprehensive set of compliance storageofferings, EMC doesn't talk about CAS or Centera much anymore.I covered the confusion around CAS in a previous post. When clients ask for "CAS" what they really are looking for is storage designed forfixed content, unstructured data that doesn't change once written. A lot of data falls under this category, such as scanned documents, audio and video recordings, medical images, and so on. Some laws and regulations further require enforcement that the data is not deleted or tampered with, until some time after an event or expiration date is met.

In the past, clients used write-once read-many (WORM) optical media, but today we have disk and tape offerings instead. Since the term "WORM" is inappropriate fordisk-based solutions, IBM has standardized to the use of the term "non-erasable, non-rewriteable" (NENR) to discusstoday's solutions and offerings.

Let's recap what IBM has to offer:

IBM System Storage DR550

This comes in both large version (DR550) andsmall version (DR550 Express).Both offerings provide NENR protection of fixed content data with your choice of a disk-only or disk-and-tape configuration. IBM also announced a DR550 file system gateway, extending the number of applications that can take advantage of this offering.

IBM System Storage N series with SnapLock(tm)

IBM has seen great success with the N series disk systems. A specificfeature called SnapLock allows some of the data stored to be NENR protected until an expiration date is met. As partof IBM's emphasis for "unified storage", a single N series appliance or gateway can manage both regular (erasable/modifiable) data with NENR data. Combining this with our recently announced Advanced Single InstanceStorage (A-SIS) de-duplication feature, and you get a very cost-effective offering!

A fourth option for NENR data is WORM tape. IBM supports WORM cartridge media in both the enterprise TS1120 drive as well as LTO3 and LTO4 drives. The advantage is that you don't need unique tape drives for WORM support. IBM drives can read and write both regular and WORM cartridges, and provide a cost-effective alternative to optical media.

As you see, IBM doesn't limit itself to disk-only offerings. Our leadership in tape allows us to innovate tape and disk-and-tape offerings that can provide more cost-effective solutions to store fixed content, retention managed data.The next time you have a conversation with a storage vendor, don't ask for CAS, ask instead for archive and compliance storage. Broaden your mind, and broaden the set of options and choices that might provide a better fit for your requirements.